In regards to Fauci, I was the last one to jump on the "Fauci is an idiot" bandwagon as Grace can attest to. At the beginning I was a fan but at some point he completely jumped the shark. His mixed messaging and constant agreement with whomever was interviewing him was irresponsible. Combine that with Trump and Biden's mixed messaging and you have a federal response, other than Operation Warpspeed, that fell woefully short. The federal government kept getting in its own way and the way of States rights to govern.Data is often better company.
It more bugs me that so many of us don’t even seem to care enough to try. We can look at the world, understand that covid is a problem, but then completely fall short on even attempting to do our part. All kinds of completely lame rationalizations come out. It’s easier to lie to ourselves than actually change our behavior.
So we talk about how bad Fauci is. Why? Is he actually evil? Is he deliberately trying to mislead us about a matter of national importance? No, but he tells us things we don’t want to hear. So we find a way to disbelieve. After all, if we believed that restaurants were killing people, we’d have to stop going.
So we tell ourselves a story about how masks don’t work and restaurants don’t spread covid. It’s a lie. But, if we believe it, we can do what we want and not feel guilty. So we do.
Now what I'm about to say has been said ad nauseum in many ways but here goes again. Your definition of "care" is incredibly narrow. Caring goes way beyond not spreading the virus. Also who has not cared enough to try? Your definition of "caring" is to have citizens hide from the virus. Based upon their comments, I believe everyone on "team virus" (per you) or "team reality" (per Grace) has tried, in some cases to a great extent. The lengths our company has gone to to protect our employees from Covid is extensive. But our caring didn't stop at Covid. We also continued to pay our employees 100% despite the fact in a lot of cases they were only working 50%. We had the luxury to do so, but most small businesses, which should have never been shutdown, didn't; despite the fact they were willing to adjust and make major innovative changes to operate safer. Now those same small businesses can't get there employees back because our government continues to incentivize them not to go back to work. We're creating another generation of citizens dependent on the government.
Your perspective is shaped by the fact your livelihood is dependent on the government. You have little to no risk. Your checks kept coming whether you worked or not. It's virtually impossible for a teacher to get fired in California. You and Fauci live in an academic bubble, where you can control variables and math always has a correct answer. You also don't have to worry about providing for any employees. Small business and its employees have no such luxury. In fact, government is the biggest obstacle to small business. Not only do owners lose their income if the government shuts down their business, but most owners feel a strong financial responsibility to their employees. You can hide from the virus, because the government allows you to do so. Most people can not, try standing in their shoes, instead of blaming them for spreading the virus.
On its face, the left's desire to provide a safety net is virtuous; however, its incredibly misguided. It is destroying our "pioneer spirit", right to self determination and our self reliance which are principles that our Country was founded on. It is also destroying the "risk vs. return" equation. America has a lot of warts, but it still should be the "Land of Opportunity" not the "Land of Guaranteed Basic Income".
